Just wanted to pop-in again throw out a couple more updates from the past week or so that I’d planned to make sooner, but was otherwise caught up rocking the cargos or getting bludgeoned by the DPM. First up is a good article on an old EP of extras from NIN, Still, which accompanied their sole live CD, And All That Could Have Been. (Which is fifteen years old?!? Sweet frickin geezus I am old…) It does a good job encouraging you to go back and revisit it, and like the author I’m glad I did because I’d completely forgotten about the song that gave the live album its title (but was not included/ever played live). It’s a lovely one — a dark, slow burner about a busted relationship that builds relentlessly over its six minute span. It’s actually a shame he never played it live because you could see it fitting in well with his other stuff, the crowd singing along to the refrain at the end en masse. Alas — at least we’ll have that moment in our heads. Fire your mental projector up and start your show now:
Next up is the single from an interesting side project (I hope) for one third of my beloved Sleater-Kinney, frontwoman Corin Tucker, who’s teaming up w/ REM’s guitarist Peter Buck and others as Filthy Friends. Their debut album Invitation is due out in a couple weeks (25 Aug) and they’ll start touring it around the same time. (Limited dates announced so far — check out the list here.) The track’s pretty good — “Despierta” — and has Tucker in her more melodic mode (ie none of her polarizing banshee wail) with some catchy guitar parts by Buck and Co. Will be interesting to hear how the rest of the album sounds. Get a taste yourself here:
And we’ll close with the latest single from beloved headwreckers Queens, which completely consumed the tail end of my week. It’s appropriate amidst all the recent talk of nuclear annihilation that these guys would swoop in with an atom bomb like this, which showcases the band doing what they do best — flat. out. rocking. Homme lures you in at the beginning with his distorted “Close — come close” lines while the band weaves its spell over you the intervening five-odd minutes. By the time you get towards the finish — right around the five minute mark — the trap has been set and you realize you’re about to get destroyed. And I’ve gotta say — if the end IS coming, I hope it feels this good — because FUCK it feels fantastic once the break happens and the band explodes for its final 90 second sprint. I defy anyone to not rock the fuck out once that happens — I’ve listened to it about 40x the past few days and still can’t stop fistpump and pogoing. If for some reason you don’t, you should go see a doctor immediately because something is seriously wrong. For the rest of you — crank this puppy to 11 and have fun. Here. it. COOOOOMES!